Conservatives have split over whether the Republican Party’s new LGBT outreach is a good thing.
SO WHAT
How big should the GOP tent be?
WHAT HAPPENED
The Republican National Committee on Saturday announced the “RNC Pride Coalition,” its first-ever partnership with the Log Cabin Republicans to mobilize LGBT communities ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Fox News reported.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel reportedly made the announcement during the Log Cabin Republicans’ “Spirit of Lincoln” gala at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
- Trump and former first lady Melania Trump, the guest of honor, were among the high-profile attendees.
- McDaniel told the audience the RNC was “committed” to its partnership with the Log Cabin Republicans, calling the group “a partner to fight for our country’s future.”
- “Conservatives in Log Cabin don’t just share our vision for a free, secure and prosperous America,” she said. “They enrich it by adding unique perspectives to our party and recruiting even more diverse candidates and supporters to join our cause.”
THE REACTION
Social conservatives, such as The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh, accused Trump and the GOP of embracing “leftist sexual identity politics.”
“[I]s transgenderism included in the RNC Pride Coalition? Are we taking pride in that too?” Walsh tweeted.
Declan Leary, an editor at The American Conservative, argued in an essay published Thursday that LGBT advocacy is incompatible with conservatism.
- The “Pride” movement “denies in practice (if not in theory) the moral limits that define conservatism, especially those aimed towards the preservation of the family as the foundation of the political order, setting up in their place the individual will and what [Leo] Strauss once called the ‘joyless quest for joy,'” he wrote.
Richard Grenell, Trump’s openly gay former acting director of national intelligence, who attended the gala, accused Walsh and other critics on Twitter of backwardness.
Meanwhile, RNC co-chair Tommy Hicks tweeted: “The Republican Party stands for freedom and individual liberty. We’re growing our party like never before and welcoming all who share our values and want to turn this country around.”
- Log Cabin Republicans President Charles Moran told Fox News: “When LGBT conservatives are included in Republican campaigns, we win.”
THE NUMBERS
Arizona Christian University released a study of American millennials last month that found 39% of 18-24 year olds identify as LGBT.
